Philip Glass

American composer

Philip Morris Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimalism, being built up from repetitive phrases and shifting layers. He described himself as a composer of "music with repetitive structures", which he has helped to evolve stylistically.

Glass founded the Philip Glass Ensemble in 1968. He has written 15 operas, numerous chamber operas and musical theatre works, 15 symphonies, 12 concertos, nine string quartets, various other chamber music pieces, and many film scores. He has received nominations for four Grammy Awards, including two for Best Contemporary Classical Composition for Satyagraha (1987) and String Quartet No. 2 (1988). He has received three Academy Award for Best Original Score nominations for Martin Scorsese's Kundun (1997), Stephen Daldry's The Hours (2002), and Richard Eyre's Notes on a Scandal (2006). He also composed the scores for Koyaanisqatsi (1982), Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985), Hamburger Hill (1987), The Thin Blue Line (1988), Candyman (1992), The Truman Show (1998), and The Illusionist (2006).

Glass is known for composing the operas Einstein on the Beach (1976), Satyagraha (1980), Akhnaten (1983), The Voyage (1992), and The Perfect American (2013). He also wrote the scores for Broadway productions such as the revivals of The Elephant Man (2002), The Crucible (2016), and King Lear (2019). For the last he won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music in a Play.

Glass has received many accolades, including a BAFTA Award, a Drama Desk Award, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for three Academy Awards, four Grammy Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award. He has also received the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 1995, the National Medal of Arts in 2010, the Kennedy Center Honors in 2018, and the Grammy Trustees Award in 2020. In 2025, he received a Lifetime Achievement from the World Soundtrack Academy.

Read more about this composer on Wikipedia.

Works

The Long LineExplore Nine Centuries of Music

Music With Changing Parts 1970 Chamber
String Quartet no. 2, "Company" 1983 Chamber
The Juniper Tree 1984 Stage
Days and Nights in Rochina 1997 Orchestral
3 Songs for Chorus a capella Vocal
4 Movements, for 2 pianos Keyboard
5 Dance Pieces Chamber
600 Lines Chamber
A Brief History of Time: Film score Stage
A Descent into the Maelstrom: Ballet Stage
A Madrigal Opera: Opera Stage
A Musical Portrait of Chuck Close Keyboard
Akhnaten: Opera Stage
Anima mundi: Film score Stage
Animals in Love: Film score Stage
Another Look at Harmony Part 4, for chorus and electric organ Vocal
Bent: Film score Stage
Candyman: Film score Stage
Candyman 2: Film score Stage
Cassandra's Dream: Film score Stage
Cello Concerto Orchestral
Channels and Winds, for orchestra with optional voice Vocal
Concerto Fantasy, for 2 timpanists and orchestra Orchestral
Concerto Grosso Orchestral
Concerto for Saxophone Quartet, for sax quartet and orchestra Orchestral
Double Concerto for Violin, Cello and Orchestra Orchestral
Dracula, for string quartet: Film score Stage
Duo for Viola and Percussion Chamber
Echorus, for 2 violins and strings Orchestral
Einstein on the Beach: Opera Stage
Etudes, Vol.1 Keyboard
Façades, for 2 flutes and strings Chamber
Glassworks, 6 pieces for chamber ensemble or piano Chamber
Gradus, for soprano saxophone Chamber
Harpsichord Concerto Orchestral
How Now Keyboard
In the Summer House, incidental music for violin and cello Chamber
In the Upper Room, for chamber ensemble: Ballet Stage
Itaipu, symphonic portrait for chorus and orchestra Vocal
Jenipapo: Film score Stage
Kepler: Opera Stage
Koyaanisquatsi: Film score Stage
La Belle et la Bête: Opera Stage
Les Enfants Terribles Stage
Mad Rush Keyboard
Melodies, for saxophone Chamber
Metamorphosis Keyboard
Mishima: Film score Stage
Modern Love Waltz Keyboard
Monsters of Grace Stage
Music for Voices Stage
Music in 12 Parts, for chamber ensemble Chamber
Music in 5ths, for chamber ensemble Chamber
Music in Contrary Motion Keyboard
Music in Similar Motion, for ensemble Chamber
Naqoyqatsi: Film score Stage
Neverwas: Film score Stage
Night on the Balcony, for harpsichord Keyboard
No Reservations: Film score Stage
North Star: Film score Stage
Notes on a Scandal: Film score Stage
Opening, for chamber ensemble or piano Chamber
Orion, for sitar, pipa, didgeridoo, kora, violin and ensemble Chamber
Orphée: Opera Stage
Orphée Suite Keyboard
Passages, for instrumental ensemble Chamber
Persephone Orchestral
Piece in the Shape of a Square, for 2 flutes Chamber
Powaqqatsi: Film score Stage
Psalm 126, for chorus and orchestra Vocal
Satyagraha: Opera Stage
Saxophone Quartet Chamber
Sonata no. 1 for Violin and Piano Chamber
Songs and Poems, for cello Chamber
Songs from Liquid Days, 6 songs for voice and chamber ensemble Vocal
String Quartet no. 1 Chamber
String Quartet no. 3, "Mishima" Chamber
String Quartet no. 4, "Buczak" Chamber
String Quartet no. 5 Chamber
Strung Out, for amplified violin Chamber
Symphony no. 1, "Low" Orchestral
Symphony no. 2 Orchestral
Symphony no. 3 Orchestral
Symphony no. 4, "Heroes" Orchestral
Symphony no. 6, "Plutonium Ode" Orchestral
Symphony no. 7, "A Toltec Symphony" Orchestral
Symphony no. 8 Orchestral
The Fog of War: Film score Stage
The Hours, for piano: Film score Stage
The Illusionist: Film score Stage
The Light Orchestral
The Photographer Stage
The Secret Agent: Film score Stage
The Sound of a Voice, suite from the incidental music Chamber
The Thin Blue Line: Film score Stage
The Voyage: Opera Stage
The Windcatcher, for flute and piano Chamber
Tirol Concerto, for piano and orchestra Orchestral
Tissues, for cello, percussion and piano Chamber
Two pages Keyboard
Undertow: Film score Stage
Violin Concerto Orchestral
Violin Concerto no. 2, "The American Four Seasons" Orchestral
Waiting for the Barbarians: Opera Stage
Wichita Vortex Sutra Keyboard
Witches of Venice: Ballet Stage